Sol Campbell asks if coronavirus is a 'designed mistake' made to attack certain people

Southend United manager Sol Campbell during the Sky Bet League One match between Blackpool and Southend United at Bloomfield Road on February 8, 2020 in Blackpool, England. (Photo by Kevin Barnes - CameraSport via Getty Images)

Sol Campbell has taken his to social media to air questions about the coronavirus and appears to suggest it could be a man made “accident” designed to attack “certain blood types”.

The Southend United manager, who once described himself as “one of the greatest minds in football”, is no stranger to comments which cause a stir - and his latest musings on Twitter have been met with derision by followers.

The former Arsenal and Tottenham player posted an image on Twitter of a media headline which says, according to ONS figures, black people are four times more likely to die from coronavirus than white people.

Captioning the photo, the 45-year-old wrote: “Was this virus a natural mistake or a designed mistake? I wonder does this virus deliberately attack a certain blood type?”

Was this virus a natural mistake or a designed mistake...? I wonder does this virus deliberately attacks a certain blood type....? pic.twitter.com/IawKX3dSlY

The former England defender does not volunteer who he thinks is behind designing the virus, but he appears to consider the idea black people are being specifically targeted by it.

While figures indicate BAME people in Britain are more affected than white counterparts by the virus, it is thought the reasons are socio-economic rather than scientific - and there is no evidence the virus has been specifically designed.

Campbell’s comments were mocked after he shared them with his 165,000 followers.

One person responded: “You’ve definitely headed one too many footballs.”

Another person said Campbell was “nutty as a fruitcake”.

The London-born manager took the Southend hot seat last last year but has been unable to turn their fortunes around with the Essex-based team sitting in 22nd place in League 1 before the pandemic put football on the back burner.

He retired from playing in 2011 and flirted briefly with politics. He aligned himself with the Conservative Party, telling the Guardian in 2014 he could be a “consultant for the government” and could help secure “the black vote”.